Article snippet: Two days after firing FBI Director James Comey, President Donald Trump offered a pointed evaluation of Comey's character and insisted that the determination was made before an evaluation of him by the Department of Justice. "Look, he's a showboat. He's a grandstander," said Trump in an interview with NBC's Lester Holt. "The FBI has been in turmoil. You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago — it was in virtual turmoil. Less than a year ago. It hasn't recovered from that." Trump portrayed the decision as his alone, despite the initial administration depiction of the dismissal as one that came based on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. "I was going to fire Comey," said Trump. "My decision." The White House released memorandums from Sessions and Rosenstein to Trump on Comey's performance in conjunction with Tuesday's news, and the president said he "accepted their recommendation" in his letter to Comey notifying him of his termination. "I was going to fire regardless of recommendation," Trump told Holt. In the termination letter, the president stated that Comey informed Trump "on three separate occasions" that he was not under investigation in relation to the bureau's probe of Russian interference in the presidential election. Asked by Holt why he included that information in the letter, Trump responded, "Because he told me that." "And I've hea... Link to the full article to read more